


If I Lay Here

by IcyHotHeart



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dragon Quest XI Act III Spoilers, Fluff, Hero | Luminary is Named Eleven | El (Dragon Quest XI), Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25654378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyHotHeart/pseuds/IcyHotHeart
Summary: In the dark of night, secrets come to light. Erik shares a part of himself with Eleven, and Eleven does all he can to help.
Relationships: Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	If I Lay Here

Erik sighed as he stared out into the night sky. Sure, it was beautiful, but he was getting tired of tracing the same constellations over and over. He turned his attention back to the earth, looking all around the area around camp for any sign of hostile life. He didn’t find anything other than a few fireflies and crickets.

He really did like watch duty. He got some time to himself, time to sort out whatever had happened that day and think about how to improve. Sometimes he liked to train, too. But some nights, like this one, he just observed. He watched not only their surroundings, but the way the stars moved, and how the different creatures of Erdrea spent their nights.

He also got to learn a lot about his companions by the way they slept. Veronica and Serena were always side by side, sprawled out on their piece of land while Veronica snored the night away. Jade, on the other hand, always curled up into herself, almost like a scared child. Sylvando was a surprisingly quiet sleeper, finding whatever position was comfortable and staying there all night. Rab tossed and turned constantly for the first little while until he found a comfortable way to settle down. Hendrik always slept a little bit away from the group, and he always seemed like he was waiting for something, or someone, to attack. Finally, Eleven. His sleeping patterns had changed over their journey, starting from a curled up ball that would wake at the slightest sound when Erik first met him, to now, sleeping quietly on his side until he woke up on his own.

“Hey.” Speak of the Luminary, and he shall awake, apparently. Erik couldn’t help but smile just a little bit when Eleven sat down beside him at the edge of camp. “It’s late.”

“It is,” he agreed. How long had he been awake now? It had been quite a while since the others had gone to sleep.

“You should get some sleep. I can take over watch now.” Erik shook his head.

“Thanks, but I can handle it. You can get some more rest.” Eleven sighed and leaned forward so he could look Erik in the eyes. Erik didn’t dare turn away.

“Erik. You’ve been up at least half the night. You need to sleep. If you don’t want me to do it for whatever reason, we can wake up Hendrik or Jade. But I don’t want you staying up for a full day.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t done before,” Erik protested. “I’ll be fine, El. I promise.” Eleven was silent for a minute after that, staring at Erik like he was trying to figure out some sort of puzzle. The moment he figured it out, his eyes lit up like a child getting a treat.

“You don’t want to sleep.” It wasn’t a question. Erik just nodded. “Why don’t you want to sleep?” Erik brought his legs up to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut. He’d never told anyone what kept him up all the time. Not even Derk. But he could trust Eleven. The man wouldn’t leave him alone until he told anyway.

“I get… nightmares. About stuff that happened a long time ago.” He turned his head down so his face was buried by his legs. It was enough to tell Eleven his fears, but to let him see them in the light of the dying fire? No way. He almost flinched when Eleven moved closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Can I help?” Eleven asked, his voice gentle and caring. Erik didn’t deserve to be comforted. Not after what he had done.

But… maybe he could indulge, for just one night. He lifted his head up and watched Eleven out of the corner of his eye.

“You can try. I don’t know what would help, but you’re welcome to try anything.” Eleven moved his arm from around Erik’s shoulders and stood up. Erik tried not to miss his warmth.

“I’ll be right back.” Erik nodded before staring back out into the wilds. He was impressed that Eleven wasn’t asking what his nightmares were about. It almost seemed like he already knew, but that was impossible. He’d have to fess up soon, though. Telling Eleven was the only way he might be able to get his sister back. He’d give everything just to hug her again.

He was jarred out of his thoughts by Eleven tapping him on the shoulder. He had two blankets draped over his arm and a smile on his face.

“Come over here.” He turned and walked towards a large rock, Erik following as quickly as possible. He sat down and put one of the blankets behind his head against the rock, leaning back and spreading his legs slightly. Then, he motioned for Erik to come closer. “Lay down and put your head in my lap.”

“What?” Erik asked, thinking he must have misheard.

“Just trust me.”

“Alright,” Erik mumbled, before slowly doing what Eleven asked. As soon as he got situated, Eleven placed the other blanket over his body. He did have to admit, he felt a lot more comfortable already.

And then Eleven started messing with his hair.

He ran his fingers through the blue locks incredibly gently, sometimes pausing to work out a tangle or two. Erik found himself melting into the touch. He hadn’t been this relaxed in a long, long time. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, smiling into the night.

“If you look like you’re having a nightmare, I’ll wake you up,” Eleven whispered softly.

“Thank you, El,” Erik whispered back. He had never really had someone care for him like this before. The closest he had gotten was when his sister took care of him when he was sick, but that was nowhere close to this. This was special.

Just when he thought the night couldn’t be any more perfect, Eleven started _humming_. It was a slow, gentle song, it almost sounded like a lullaby. It probably was a lullaby. Erik sighed happily as he listened. This may just be the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. He fell asleep quickly, and for once, his dreams were filled with happiness.

—

The next day, Erik decided he had to tell Eleven. As the party travelled, he moved up to the front to be near his partner.

“Hey, El, about last night, and the nightmares,” he started. Eleven glanced over at him, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Yeah?”

“So, I have a sister…”

—

Mia was okay. Erik trusted in the power of the Luminary, of his best friend and partner, again and now his sister was _alive_. She was safe, and alive, and just as sassy as he remembered. To say Erik was on top of the world was an understatement. Now he could work to raise enough money to send her to the Academy, and maybe he could find a home for her to come back to when she graduated. He hoped that home could be in Cobblestone, he and Mia deserved to settle down somewhere nice with good people. But if that didn’t work, there were so many nice places he had come across where they could live. Would she like Puerto Valor?

“Erik!” Veronica snapped, and Erik stopped just in time to avoid running into her. “Erdrea to Erik, we’re at the inn.” Erik shook his head quickly and looked around. That’s right. They were heading to the Sniflheim inn for the night. Everyone but him and Veronica had already made it inside.

“Who’s rooming with who?” he asked, knowing the others had probably discussed it while he had his head in the clouds.

“You’re with Eleven. Now come on, I’m cold!” She shivered dramatically before sprinting towards the inn door. Erik let out a laugh as he ran to catch up. Now he had _two_ dramatic girls to keep up with.

—

_“Erik!”_ Mia screamed as her face slowly turned to gold. Erik reached out for her, but there was nothing he could do.

_“Why couldn’t you help me?”_

_“You’re the worst big brother ever!”_

_“How could you?”_

_“You knew it was cursed!”_

_“I hate you.”_

“Erik!” Erik opened his eyes and shot up in bed, breathing heavily. He felt something touch his shoulder and flinched, snapping his head towards the source and realizing it was Eleven. He took a breath of pause before throwing himself into the other’s arms. He could be vulnerable with Eleven. So he let himself cry, fresh tears falling over the ones shed in his sleep. Eleven rubbed gentle circles across his back, rocking the both of them back and forth slowly.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Erik wasn’t sure how long he stayed there in Eleven’s arms, but Eleven didn’t seem to mind. He kept whispering reassuring things, and touching him so gently… Erik hadn’t felt this safe in years.

Finally, when the tears started to dry and his hands stopped quivering, he pulled back from Eleven’s hold. He brought an arm up to wipe away the tears, unable to look his friend in the eyes.

“Hey, Erik?” Eleven asked. Erik had expected him to sound annoyed, but there wasn’t a hint of it in his voice.

“Yeah?” he replied, flinching at the rawness of his throat.

“Do you want me to stay with you until morning?” Erik finally looked at Eleven, illuminated by the light filtering through the stained glass windows. There was no pity in his eyes like Erik expected. He just looked like he wanted to help.

“Yeah. That sounds nice,” he muttered. Eleven smiled and motioned for him to move over on the bed, getting under the covers beside him. It was a bit of a tight fit, but it’d work. They maneuvered themselves until they found a comfortable position, with Erik’s head against Eleven’s chest and their arms wrapped around each other. Eleven brought a hand to Erik’s hair and started messing with it just like he had the previous night. Erik’s eyes quickly fell shut, the adrenaline from his nightmare finally wearing off and giving way to exhaustion.

“Goodnight, Erik,” Eleven whispered. Erik could only hum in reply before he drifted off to sleep.

—

Sleeping together became a regular occurrence for the pair. Even when their adventure ended, and when Erik’s nightmares started to become a rare occurrence instead of a nearly nightly one, they still preferred sleeping side by side.

“Hey El,” Erik called as he walked into their shared bedroom, a piece of parchment clutched in his hand. “Mia sent another letter, she’s on track to graduate at the top of her class! Can you believe it? My little sis is a top student!” Eleven grinned, setting his book down to read the letter as Erik handed it to him.

“She’s really amazing, you know. I can’t wait to see her again.”

“I can’t either.” Erik sat on the edge of the bed and opened the drawer of the nightstand so he could look at the collection of Mia’s letters. “Hey, do you remember when she first got there and hated it?” he asked, holding one of the first letters she sent home. There was a large mini medal drawn on the back, a large X scribbled across it.

“How could I forget? It took everyone to convince her to try it for just a year. I still can’t believe _Hendrik_ was the one to finally get her to agree to it.” Eleven shook his head fondly at the memory.

“I think the most unbelievable part of this is that we got the king of Heliodor to pay for my little sister’s schooling!” Erik grinned, remembering King Carnelian’s face when they had asked him to send Mia to the Academy. It had taken a few very stern looks from Jade to get him to agree, but he paid the tuition in full with no complaints.

“Do you think she’ll want to live here for a while or go her own way as soon as she can?” Eleven asked, handing the newest letter back to Erik.

“I’m honestly not sure. I hope she stays with us for a bit, but knowing her, she might wanna go out and explore the world as soon as she can.” Erik paused as he sorted the letters back in the proper order. “I still owe her a treasure hunting trip, you know.”

“She gets first dibs on anything you find, right?” Erik laughed as he crawled under the covers.

“Yeah, she does. For the first trip only. Any more than that and we split it evenly!” Erik moved to put his head on Eleven’s chest, smiling at the familiar feeling of hands in his hair.

“Think Sylv will let us borrow the Salty Stallion?”

“‘The Salty Stallion is yours to use, darlings, as long as Dave and I can join you!’” Erik quoted, earning a laugh from Eleven.

“Think we can get the whole gang together for this trip? You and Mia can keep all the loot, but it’d be fun to go on an adventure with everyone again.”

“She did request the treasure hunt to end all treasure hunts, I think getting everyone together would certainly accomplish that!”

“Would you even make it out alive with both Mia and Veronica teasing you?” Eleven joked.

“I’ll be fine as long as I’ve got you to back me up.” Erik paused for a moment. “Well… maybe we could send Jade to take them shopping or something to give me a break sometimes. Otherwise it may be the treasure hunt to _end_ all treasure hunts.” The pair burst out laughing, clutching onto each other as they giggled.

“Goodnight, Erik,” Eleven mumbled after they had calmed down, already half asleep himself.

“Goodnight, El,” Erik replied, snuggling closer. The two soon fell asleep with smiles on their faces, and their dreams were filled with nothing but joy.


End file.
